


Bug

by shewearsglasses



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gwen Doesn't Die, Awesome Gwen, Dogs, Dysfunctional Family, Established Relationship, Gwen and Peter get a dog, Kuvasz, Puppy Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 20:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1756727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewearsglasses/pseuds/shewearsglasses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Gwen and Peter live happily ever after with a dog.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bug

**Author's Note:**

> Because I have a lot of feelings about Gwen Stacy.

Peter set his coffee mug down, smiling at Gwen. She was facing the window, watching a man walk his dog down the street. Peter’s lip twitched until the soft smile was a full-blown affectionate grin. He could practically hear the cogs turning in her head. She glanced at him, and noticing he was staring, she did a double-take and stilled in her seat.

She looked down at her hands, mumbling an apology for getting distracted. Peter shook off the apology, tilting the coffee back up to his lips. After a moment of contemplative silence, Gwen looked at Peter, her eyes full of meaning. He quieted his grin, forcing it into a smile. He raised an eyebrow, egging her to speak.

Gwen opened her mouth, but then closed it and glanced back down to the hands in her lap. Peter rolled his eyes, shaking his head, he said, “Just say it, Gwen.”

She edged forward on her side of the bench. “We should get a puppy,” she said immediately. The words erupting from her mouth without control. She snapped her mouth shut when the last syllable left her lips. Licking at her bottom lip, Gwen looked down then back up at Peter, waiting for a reaction. She settled back against her seat, then jumped forward, then stopped moving. Her hands fisted in her lap eagerly.

Peter smiled. He looked down, twirling the coffee cup around with his forefinger. Gwen rubbed at her nose, and opened her mouth to speak again but seemed to think better of it. After another beat without a response, she said, “Peter?” Her voice was quiet, almost whispered. When he met her gaze, her eyes were dark with worry.

He watched her eyes. The sun almost made them appear amber in shade, but he knew them to be green. He loved her eyes, and the way they scrunched up when she laughed. Peter liked the way they always showed exactly what she was feeling. Peter straightened in his seat, he’d kept her on edge for long enough. Slowly, he nodded.

Gwen shrieked, and jumped into the air. She then slapped both hands over her mouth and sat back down, her back shoved against the bench, her legs locked together. Her eyes were wide, and the happiness they contained practically flooded the café. Peter started laughing, completely ignoring the odd looks the other customers were giving them. Gwen dropped her hands and grinned. “Hey, now.” Peter said, still laughing. “Don’t blind me with that.”

Gwen joined in his laughter, and rounded the booth to hug him. Her arms came around him, and as his right arm was locked to his side by her chest, he brought the left arm up awkwardly to grip at her elbow. “Thank you, Peter,” she whispered into his hair. She pulled back a bit and kissed him just above the ear.

He coughed to try and suppress the blush eating away at his cheeks. “You’re… You’re welcome,” he said. She kissed his cheek, and his forehead, and his nose. Then smiled sweetly and leaned into his lips.

“I love you,” she whispered against his mouth.

He smiled into the kiss, and allowed her to lean back and peck him once more on the lips. Then she pulled away and sat back. He coughed again, “Oh,” she said. “Stop trying to make yourself look all macho.”

Before she could move back to her side of the booth, he took her hand, and squeezed it. She looked back at his, a question in her eyes. They were green in the shade; bright, open and green. The color of the ocean on a clear day. “Can we get a big dog?” He asked, and her smile was 2000 watts.

Gwen, as always, ended up being the one to do all the research, and picked up a puppy before Peter could veto her choice. He just came home from work four days later and there she was, all 14  pounds of her. Gwen shrieked and ran into the room. She tried to hide the little beast behind her, but the pup just peeked around her ankle, besides, he’d already seen her by then.

Gwen smiled sheepishly and scooted aside to allow Peter to assess the dog. “A lab?” he said, moving forward to scoop up the puppy. She licked his face happily as he cooed at her.

Gwen was shaking her head when he glanced at her, “A Kuvasz.”

“A what?” Peter held the dog away from him, “What the heck does that even mean? A koo-va-whata?”

Gwen approached him, and pulled the dog gently from his arms. She smiled as the dog took to her just as happily, licking at her face, and nipping at her hair. Gwen readjusted the dog so one arm was free and she dangled her hair in front of the dogs face, smiling and pulling back as the dog chewed harmlessly. Gwen looked up at him and said, “KOO-vah-sock. It’s a Hungarian breed for flock-herding.” She smiled at Peter before looking back at the dog and bouncing her in her arms, “She’s supposed to be very loyal and intelligent. Isn’t that right, baby?” Gwen’s voice took on a childish tone and she leaned forward to press her face into the dog’s fur.

Peter raised an eyebrow and pulled the dog back into his arms as Gwen pouted. He grinned mockingly, and bounced her once to reposition her so he could pet her back, “Alright. Did you name her already too?”

Gwen walked around him to sit on the couch; she patted the spot beside her and Peter sat down close enough so she could pet the puppy as well. “I figured we could do that together,” she said.

Peter eyed her, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead choosing to focus all her attention on the dog between them. She cooed at it, calling it ‘pretty’ and ‘cute.’ Peter rolled his eyes, allowing the puppy to drop to the cushion between them. He petted it lazily, “What are my choices?”

Gwen shrugged, “Peter—”

“I know you’ve already picked out all the names, Gwen. Don’t try and fool me into thinking I’m making my own decision,” he grinned at her. She pouted, still playing with the dog.

“Fine,” she said. She straightened and pulled her feet up so she was cross-legged facing him. Her left arm still pressed against the dog’s back. “I was thinking either Ghost, Lucy, or May.”

“May?” he asked, laughing. “That might get confusing.” He reached out to her face, trying to poke her nose.

“What? I thought it’d be nice,” Gwen protested, pulling back out of reach.

He nodded, “It is nice,” he knelt down to allow the puppy to lick at his face. “For a dead woman. It sounds like you’re naming our kid after her!”

Gwen crossed her arms over her chest, “Well excuse me for thinking she _was_ equivalent to a child.”

“What about—”

Gwen interrupted him, “Oh no, Peter Parker. You are not naming our dog after an Avenger or some other foolish hero.” She poked him in the chest, “If we’re not going to name her May, we’re also not going to name her Tony or Steve or Bucky, or after any of your other ‘idols.’”

Peter’s mouth dropped open, but he couldn’t keep the smile out of his eyes, “What? I wasn’t gonna—” He stopped when Gwen’s face dropped forward, one eyebrow raised, head tilted. “Fine, I sort of was. What about—Bug?”

“Bug? Are you serious?” Gwen uncrossed her arms and reached out to collect the dogs face between her palms. She cooed at her and then sat back and glanced up at Peter, eyebrow still raised but with less exasperation and more confusion.

Peter shrugged, “Yeah, I think it’s cute.”

Gwen kept her eyebrow raised, “I’ll think about it. Add it to the list.” She leaned forward and focused all her attention back on the dog, “She’s gonna shed, and she’ll grow to be around 70-100lbs so you’ve got your ‘big dog.’”

“I can walk her after work,” Peter said. He stood and stretched, smiling when the still-nameless puppy yipped at his absence. He walked around the couch and went to grab a glass of water.

He heard the puppy jump from the couch, and Gwen’s footsteps as she followed her into the kitchen. He glanced up just as the puppy tackled a squeaky toy near his left foot. He smiled, humming when Gwen padded up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pressed her forehead to the back of his neck.

Peter collected one of her hands in his and squeezed, “I’m so happy,” Gwen said against his back.

“Me too,” said Peter.

They ended up keeping the name ‘Bug.’ But after a week of teething (read: eating everything within reach), peeing on the carpet, and whining when put in her cage to sleep, Gwen and Peter were a little less ‘happy’ with the puppy.

Gwen took a schedule-change so she could join a puppy-training course. Peter began walking her every day after work, as he’d promised, and  when he returned from his nightly Spider-Man runs, he’d let Bug out of her crate and he’d pull her up onto their bed to snuggle between them. It was cute when they drifted to sleep, but she woke them up, more often than not, before 6am. Gwen would whine and turn over to try and ignore the ball of energy, and Peter would wake up with a smile already on his lips, a laugh tucked away so he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of Gwen’s heated morning glare. Then he’d take pity on her, and feed the dog.

When he finished up Bug’s morning routine, Gwen would already be in the shower. Sometimes, on the best of mornings, she’d even call out for him to join her. Those days were always the best for the both of them.

Their life with Bug was hectic, and Gwen was often anxious as she found she couldn’t control it. But Peter was always there to hold her hand. And with Bug, they were happier than they’d even been for nearly thirteen years. Gwen cried in Peter’s chest, and he covered his tears with a hand, before wiping them away and snarking, “See, and May would’ve been a bad name.”

Gwen hit him in the chest, but she’d laughed a bit through her sniffles.

**Author's Note:**

> If this gets enough approval, I may even add a few drabbles about Peter and Gwen dealing with the dog. Obviously, this is going to deviate from my Spideypool norm, but if you're lucky, Wade could be a playful uncle in one of the follow-ups.


End file.
